Many of the readers, particularly having interest in Continuous Improvement wouldn’t be oblivious to the concepts of Lean. Lean Manufacturing, which is very much synonymous with Toyota Manufacturing system has shaped the imagination for organizations in their pursuit to Continuous Improvement. But over the years, the philosophy has been extended in paving the way for a radical different approach in product development.

Lean Product Development (LPM) has taken most of the principles from the Lean mindset while having its nuances in its application for Product development. This has picked up more recently because principles and practices of LPM provide a lot of food for thought on the means to compete in new age hyper-competitive environment, rife with disruptive business models, led mainly by digital technologies.

Lean in Product development, like its predecessor in manufacturing, has the same objective of improving product success with lesser resources and with lesser risk. Unlike traditional pre planned Big Bang approach to product development, LPM believes in iterative development, continuous refinement of customer understanding and small but quick product life cycle. Though LPM might have some overlaps with Agile in its approach to iterative development or design thinking in its approach to ideation, the core philosophy is distinct and has the following four broad dimensions.

1. Outcomes for the Product eco system drive decisions

Pre-eminent first step in LPM is identifying customers along with the problem/opportunity that the product aims to achieve for its customers. This is called Customer- Problem fit. LPM proposes to look at the Customer- Problem fit more holistically encompassing all aspects. Frameworks like Lean Product Canvas as depicted below is a simple tool to articulate all these related key dimensions of product eco system.

( Fig 1 : Lean Product Canvas )

2. Value Stream Mapping and Elimination of waste

Approach to identify waste is what makes lean so effective. The starting point or the north start metrics for this activity is the key outcomes or value proposition that the product wants to achieve for its target customers. These outcomes are defined more objectively through measures or KPIs. It then looks at the value stream, of all existing options/alternatives for customers, mapping all activities and their inter-relationships. Activities that contribute the most towards achieving the desired outcomes are the value adds, while the ones contributing the least are rated as nonvalue adds. In the next step It goes out figuring out ways to eliminate or optimize nonvalue adds also called as Lean wastes. In most cases this translates to a decisive approach of prioritization, whilst being open to change at any point.

As an example, Customer Journey Map - capturing customer steps along with their behavioural & psychological aspects is a useful tool to understand customers value stream better. Figure below depicts a representative template of customer journey map.

(Fig 2 : Customer Journey Map )

A similar template can also be applied for other dimensions in the Product Ecosystem.

3. Customers not fully understood until they use or feel the product.

Process of gathering & synthesizing knowledge about customers is continuous and integral throughout the product development life cycle. Unlike traditional product developments in which customer research is skewed very much in pre-development, LPM believes in a continuous approach to customer discovery whilst being lean, so as to pivot easily if needed. Customer discovery is best done by observing their actions and is done throughout, even after the product is launched in the market. Instead of a Big Bang approach, LPM recommends quickly launching a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)  and rapidly iterating to improve. Each of such iterations follow a Build-Measure- Learn cycle.

(Fig 3 : Build-Measure-Learn loop)

MVP is a basic version of the product having only the most important features for the customers. A prototype is developed based on the findings of initial phase of customer discovery. Basing on the feedback from the prototype, the team develops an MVP with the most important features. Discovery of customers continue even after the MVP is launched in the market. Insights gathered in the process sets the basis to decide whether to pivot or preserve.

(Fig 4 : Product Development Iterations)

Prioritization techniques are key to the development of MVP. There are many tools with its utility such as MoSCoW(that prioritizes features based on Must have, Should have, Could have and Will not Haves) or a two by two matrix (Prioritizing of features based on Importance vs Complexity) that can be leveraged involving all key stakeholders for feature prioritization.  

(Fig 5 :2 X 2 Matrix)                                                                            (Fig 6 : MoSCoW)

4. Employees are valued and are bestowed upon as the custodians of the process

Optimal utilization of resources (including employees), decentralized and a participative approach in eliminating wastes, are the hallmarks of Lean. Everyone who is a part of the value stream contributes in identifying & analyzing wastes. People closer to the process have a more nuanced understanding of the customers. Key findings gathered at any stage, are hypothesized and validated through experiments. LMP practices discourages over burdening of resources, because over burdening leads to break downs or unevenness in the flow, leading to more wastes.

This philosophy has a significantly positive influence on the employee morale because it encourages employees to feel more engaged, more valued and less burdened. As a result, LPM contributes significantly towards the people aspect of organizational culture as well.